Colorado And Connecticut Governors Could Both Lose Because Of Gun Control

After passing gun control legislation, two gubernatorial races that were expected to be a Democratic hold are now in the sights of the GOP just one day before voters head to the polls. Candidates in Colorado and Connecticut are vulnerable after enjoying substantial leads in the polls.

An April Magellan Strategies poll showed incumbent John Hickenlooper of Colorado leading his Republican opponent, former Rep. Bob Beauprez, by 15 points. Now the tides have turned heavily in the Republican’s favor, with Beauprez leading Hickenlooper by two points in a Quinnipiac poll conducted October 31-November 2, 45-43 percent.

Last year, Hickenlooper signed a set of gun-control bills into law which banned the sale of ammunition magazines which hold more than 15 rounds and requires universal background checks on all gun sales and transfers.

Like Hickenlooper, Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy is facing an uphill battle to keep the Governor’s Mansion in Hartford. Where Malloy was leading his Republican opponent, businessman Tom Foley, by eight points in early October in a survey conducted by Public Policy Polling (PPP), he is now only leading by one point in a Quinnipiac University poll conducted October 28-November 2, 43-42 percent.

After the horrific school shooting in Newtown, Malloy signed a series of gun-control measures into law, including banning ammunition magazines with more than ten rounds. Although a majority of voters in May supported the reforms, according to a Quinnipiac University poll, it may not translate into victory for Malloy.

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But Matt Purple, News Editor at Rare, observed last month on National Review that “guns could still prove a potent political issue.”

“Malloy has been repeatedly confronted by angry gun owners at town halls, to whom he responds with a litany of insufferable ‘in point of facts’ and cherry-picked statistics. The local gun group, the Connecticut Citizens Defense League, quadrupled its membership in the year after the Newtown shooting.”

This past weekend, Independent candidate Joe Visconti, who pulled 8 percent in the most recent Quinnipiac poll, surprisingly dropped out of the race and backed Foley. “If I can’t be governor, I want to help Tom be governor,” Visconti said, according to The Hartford Courant.

Still, Purple, a Connecticut native who lives in Washington, D.C., and has worked for The American Spectator, cautions Western Journalism about the effect such an event can have on the race.

“…the other trend I think you’re seeing right now are liberal independent voters who have been telling pollsters they’re undecided reluctantly coming home to Malloy just before Election Day. This is how it works in blue states.”

When questioned in a debate last month, the GOP nominee did not say what he would do with the gun control laws in the state if he were elected governor, just that, “We have a Democratic legislature and the legislature passes the laws, not the governor.”

Purple acknowledged the “tightrope” Foley has had to walk on the state’s gun laws, but noted those who are pro-Second Amendment will undoubtedly support him rather than Malloy.

“Foley has tried to walk a tightrope on the gun issue, which hasn’t always looked pretty or consistent. But he was endorsed by Connecticut’s largest gun group and takes a far more conservative position than does Malloy. Gun owners driven to vote by the firearms bill will unquestionably support Foley over Malloy. The question is how many will show up at the polls.”